Rancho Mirage student seeks justice after receiving a racist video at school

Mothers plead with the Palm Unified School Board to do something about bullying
Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

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Nahjae Knight is a senior at Rancho Mirage High School where her father claims racist incidents are being swept under the rug by the school administration, Palm Springs, Calif., Wednesday, September 12, 2018.(Photo11: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)Buy Photo

Nahjae Knight, 17, says she was sitting on the bleachers in Rancho Mirage High School's gym last Thursday afternoon with several friends. From across the basketball court, a group of five male students were sending her group "random videos."

Knight, however, received one that her friends did not. One of the boys sent her a five-second video of a white man who raises a gun and says in a southern drawl, "Put your hands where I can see 'em" — finishing the sentence with a racial slur.

Knight, who is black, reported the incident to school staff, but said she received little support. Her father, Steven Knight, said the district has taken no effective action. This was the second time his daughter experienced racism in high school.

But this time, Nahjae Knight and her father want to make sure it doesn't happen again. They plan to meet Thursday morning at the school with officials from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

The school has condemned the incident, but even as officials investigate other students have begun harassing Knight, referring to her as a "snitch."

"I went to confront the boys about it, and the boys laughed at my face as if it was some type of joke," Nahjae Knight said. "I have classes with those boys everyday, and everyone’s laughing at me for telling on those boys."

This isn't the first time racism has gone unaddressed at the school, she said. During her sophomore year, a classmate posted a photo of her, with a cousin and a friend on Instagram using a racial slur as a caption.

Rancho Mirage High School is part of the Palm Springs Unified School District.

"Our administrators received a report of inappropriate videos and memes shared between students on Aug. 30," Rancho Mirage High School Principal Dr. Teresa Haga said in an email to The Desert Sun on Wednesday. "We are outraged that any of our students would engage in this kind of behavior, and no student should ever be the target of racism in any form."

Haga said the school is working with local law enforcement to "determine what specific student(s) were responsible for the racist message that was among many other messages that were being sent in the gymnasium."

She said a day after the incident school staff "admonished" students for inappropriate use of technology.

"We hold our students accountable for their actions and administer disciplinary consequences for poor behaviors," Haga said. "At the same time, we also need for our students to understand that these types of behaviors do not only affect just a single person but often much larger groups of people."

To help students understand the impact of their behaviors, Haga said Rancho Mirage has implemented "Restorative Circles."

According to Steven and Nahjae Knight, the school suggested that Nahjae and the five boys sit in a room together to discuss the incident. Considering his daughter's emotional distress, Steven Knight found the proposal unacceptable.

"She doesn’t want to sit next to this kid. How are they gonna throw her in the room with the five kids?" he said. "Why would you have her go do that?"

The incident has forced Nahjae Knight's parents to consider transferring her to another school.

"She has a lot of potential. She can be whatever she wants to be," her father said. "She had this whole mojo going. This is going to distract her and take her out of her habitat."

That's why he plans to meet with sheriff's officials. He said he would consider legal action if necessary.

"I felt like I didn’t protect her," he said. "I don’t want to feel that way."

Joe Hong is the education reporter for The Desert Sun. Reach him at joseph.hong@desertsun.com or follow him on Twitter at @jjshong5.